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Montagnards, an indigenous multitribal refugee-origin population concentrated in North Carolina, remain an invisible, medically underserved, and socioeconomically underrepresented Asian American sub-group. Yet this group is resilient, with language diversity, rich cultural traditions and family caregiving in multigenerational households. Using community-based participatory research methods, we developed and administered a two-part survey to 144 Montagnard adults, documenting socioeconomic characteristics, health indicators and lifestyle behaviors. Forty-one percent of participants had no formal education, 76% had little/no English proficiency and 28% described having a very hard time paying their bills. Seventy-seven percent were overweight per BMI category, 79% had elevated blood pressure and 100% scored high for significant depressive symptoms. Participants reported high levels of physical inactivity and daily dietary intake of MSG. However, Montagnards reported limited tobacco and alcohol use, a diet of fresh vegetables and rice, and regular church attendance. These represent protective lifestyle behaviors and targets for culturally responsive health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which compared Latina women in the southeastern U.S. who have taken a previous HIV test with those who have not yet been tested. Topics covered include the women's perception of HIV testing as beneficial and worthwhile, the use of a conceptual framework for characterizing health promotion and disease prevention within macro- and micro-level cultural influences and the factors which might enable women to take up HIV counseling and testing.

The article discusses the study that determined HIV testing enablers or facilitators among Latina immigrant women using qualitative interviews with five community health advocates (CHAs). Topics discussed include intrinsic enablers of HIV testing like individual trust and confidentiality, extrinsic enables such as local community outreach and bicultural/bilingual testing staff, and need to institute and revise HIV testing outreach interventions.

Abstract: Objective: Although the impact of marital violence on women’s reproductive health is recognized globally, there is little research on how women’s experience of and justification of marital violence in developing country settings is linked to sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptom reporting, and seeking care for the symptoms. Method: This study analyzes data on 9,639 currently married women from India’s 2006–2007 National Family Health Survey-3 from the Central/Northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The likelihood of currently married women’s reporting STIs or symptoms, and the likelihood of seeking care for these, are analyzed using multivariate logistic regression techniques. Results: Currently married women’s experience of physical, sexual, and emotional marital violence in the last 12 months was significantly associated with greater likelihood of reporting a STI or symptom (odds ratio [OR], 1.364 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.171–1.588] for physical violence; OR, 1.649 [95% CI, 1.323–2.054] for sexual violence; OR, 1.273 [95% CI, 1.117–1.450] for emotional violence). Experience of physical violence (OR, 0.728; 95% CI, 0.533–0.994) and acceptance of any justification for physical violence (OR, 0.590; 95% CI, 0.458–0.760) were significantly associated with decreased chance of seeking care, controlling for other factors. Conclusion: This study suggests that experiencing marital violence may have a negative impact on multiple aspects of women’s reproductive health, including increased self-report of STI symptoms. Moreover, marital physical violence and accepting justification for such violence are associated with decreased chance of seeking care. Thus, policies and programs to promote reproductive health should incorporate decreasing gender-based violence, and overcoming underlying societal gender inequality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study aimed to explore Mexican dietary acculturation patterns among immigrants using a unique transnational photographic assessment. Participants (N = 10) were Latino mother and child pairs living in Mexico (1 pair) and in the United States (4 pairs). Data were collected in 2 phases: 1) participant observation and photography in Mexico, and 2) in-depth interviewing using photographic guides in North Carolina. Environment, daily activity patterns, shopping, and dietary patterns in Mexico were all documented. Acculturation resulted in poor dietary intake due to decreased availability, food displacement, and cost. Decreases in physical activity due to environmental and social barriers were also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2005 standards published by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association are intentionally general, placing less emphasis on quantifiable and arbitrary inputs and more emphasis on institutional effectiveness and assessment of student learning. The non-prescriptive nature of the new standards makes it difficult for librarians to determine an appropriate compliance strategy. The authors advocate use of the 2004 ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education for assessment of an academic library to provide the comprehensive evaluation required to demonstrate compliance with the North Central Association standards. A comprehensive listing of the North Central provisions affecting libraries and other material are provided to assist in such an evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine factors associated with women's self-reports of reproductive ill health symptoms and factors associated with seeking and receiving treatment for the symptoms. We focus on indicators of women's societal position, especially empowerment (indicated by experience of and attitudes toward violence against women), autonomy, and education. We used data from the National Family Health Survey-2 from Kerala state in Southern India. Based on our results we suggest that violence against women, whether actually experienced or internalized as acceptance of its justification, is associated with increased ill health symptoms, and the acceptance of violence is associated with decreased chance of treatment. Women's higher formal education appeared to reduce treatment seeking for reproductive ill health, perhaps due to the stigma associated with sexually transmitted disease (STD) in this cultural setting. Women's work participation had no significant impact, nor did indicators of women's economic and personal autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to aggressive marketing of tobacco to college students, Florida's legislature allocated multi-settlement agreement dollars to fund tobacco prevention programming at state institutions of higher learning. The Student Tobacco Reform Initiative: Knowledge for Eternity (STRIKE) was one such program. Its purpose was to increase awareness and support college student advocacy for prevention. In this program note, we introduce Targeting, Resource Identification, and Unification for College Peer Education (TRUCE), the strategy used to facilitate implementation of STRIKE tobacco prevention programming by student advocates at a metropolitan university campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflexivity, an important component of qualitative inquiry generally, gains additional significance in community-based participatory research (CBPR). The varying partnerships among researchers, community partners, and community members are strengthened when a co – learning, reflective model is applied. The use of reflective field notes can be a powerful tool to help achieve this end. In this article, we describe the dynamics of community-engaged research team where members applied a co-learning model to reflect upon their positionality in the community and in research. Using reflective field notes examined through a narrative approach to the PI's time in the field, we assess these positionalities through the relationships between CBPR work and power relations. The reflective practice embedded in the CBPR process brought these power relations to our attention. We then turned to the literature on power relations to better understand what was occurring in the study. The current case details the additional complexity that occurs when issues of language, translation, gender, and culture are introduced. Thus, this paper is a reflective analysis of a bilingual researcher's experience in the field specific to cross-cultural CBPR work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign-born faculty (FBF) comprise between a quarter and a third of the higher education workforce in the U.S. today. As part of a larger mixed methods research project, we examined undergraduate students' perceptions of FBF prior to and after engaging with them in the classroom. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of undergraduate students (N = 474) enrolled at three public universities in the southeastern U.S. We examined demographic and educational correlates of undergraduate students' perceptions of FBF, preferences regarding taking courses (preference factor) taught by FBF, and perceived benefits of learning (benefit factor) from FBF. Findings showed that several student characteristics (e.g. being Latinx/Hispanic; being born or raised with one or both parents from overseas; being an upperclassman; being a human-service major; taking at least one course with FBF) were associated with more positive perceptions of FBF and a higher level of perceived benefits of learning from FBF. The findings in this study strongly support the assertion that providing U.S. undergraduate students with more opportunities to learn from FBF in their college classrooms will support those students' development of positive perceptions of diversity and difference as a key educational outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]